Beyoncé, who got a lot of flak last year for her herky-jerky moves in her "Deja Vu" clip, is putting the proverbial ball in the fans' court. In anticipation of her upcoming video collection, the singer is inviting fans to create a clip for any song on her B'Day album via a YouTube contest. The winner will get a pair of tickets to a Beyoncé show, plus two passes to meet her backstage. ...

Gwen Stefani and Akon will perform at Nickelodeon's 20th annual Kids Choice Awards, to be hosted by Justin Timberlake. The show will air live on Nickelodeon March 31 at 8 p.m. ET, with a tape delay on the West Coast. ...

Seminole police — who handle crimes that take place at the American Indian reservation in Hollywood, Florida, and are heading up the investigation into Anna Nicole Smith's death — met with homicide prosecutors Tuesday to discuss the incident, according to The Miami Herald. "They're continuing with their investigation of Anna Nicole Smith's death," Broward County Chief Assistant State Attorney Chuck Morton told the newspaper, although he would not elaborate. Police Captain Robert McDaniel added that there is still no evidence of foul play in the case. ...

Britney Spears has plenty of new music waiting for her when she's ready to record, according to Ne-Yo. "I was working really close with her A&R people," the songwriter told MTV Europe, "and came up with a lot of hot songs, but to this day I have not actually sat down with Britney." Ne-Yo shared his thoughts on the role that media scrutiny may be playing in her recovery. "I think if you took the cameras out of her face for five seconds, she might be able to get it right," he said. ...

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will have a record-breaking first-print run of 12 million copies when it's released July 21, publisher Scholastic Inc. announced Wednesday (March 14). The final chapter in J.K. Rowling's seven-part saga tops the sixth book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," for which 10.8 million copies were printed during its first run. "There Will Soon Be 7," a promotional campaign for the eagerly awaited book, will launch next month with events including a bus tour of libraries in major cities. ... Angelina Jolie arrived in Vietnam late Wednesday to adopt a 3-year-old, AP reports. The actress is expected to go to an adoption ceremony with officials Thursday morning and could have the child home by the weekend. ...

Suicide claimed the life of Brad Delp, lead singer of Boston, his family said in a statement issued Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. The New Hampshire medical examiner's office has determined that Delp ended his life by carbon-monoxide poisoning. "He gave as long as he could, as best he could, and he was very tired," the statement said. "We take comfort in knowing that he is now, at last, at peace." It has also been revealed that Delp left two notes behind, for his fiancee and family, although police do not know their contents. ...

Gym Class Heroes' Matt McGinley is a free man once again. The drummer spent more than 32 hours in a Mexican jail after being detained by authorities early Monday morning on suspicion of breaking and entering. He was released Tuesday evening, according to a spokesperson for the band's label. A source close to the situation told MTV News that McGinley, who was in Mexico with the band to perform at MTV and mtvU spring-break events, attended a house party in Cancun that the home's owners had apparently not authorized. The owners, who returned to find McGinley among a handful of partygoers still in their home, later discovered that a number of items had been stolen. They contacted local police, who picked up McGinley. While detained, he missed Gym Class Heroes' scheduled taping on Monday, and The Academy Is ... drummer Andy "The Butcher" Mrotek filled in behind the kit. "Everyone, especially Matt, is anxious to get back out on the road, playing music," the band's reps said in a statement. Gym Class Heroes' headlining tour stops in Indianapolis on Wednesday (March 14) and wraps up May 6 in Amherst, Massachusetts. ...

Morrissey will tour North America this spring in support of 2006's Ringleader of the Tormentors. The trek launches April 28 in Stockton, California, and dates are booked through June 30 at New York's Madison Square Garden. ... After two long years, Hot Hot Heat have finished work on their new album, Happiness, Ltd. While a firm release date hasn't been announced yet, the band does hope to have the LP out this summer. In a statement, the Heat revealed why it's taken them so long to release new material. "Normally each person has the songs they love and the songs they could live without; but the goal of this record was to put out something with unanimous excitement," the band said of the follow-up to 2005's Elevators. "So in retrospect, [we're] grateful for every delay. They were all musical delays and it led to an album that all four of us actually love from beginning to end." ...

Former Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell has booked a trio of solo gigs for next month — the first dates for what is expected to be a full North American run. So far, Cornell has scheduled performances in Toronto (April 14), Boston (April 19), and Philadelphia (April 22). The singer's second solo album, Carry On, is due June 5. ... The Who's Tuesday concert in Tampa, Florida, didn't last long, as frontman Roger Daltrey walked off the stage during the first song of the band's set. According to The Associated Press, several minutes after Daltrey left the stage, guitarist Pete Townshend informed the crowd that the concert had to be canceled, and said that Daltrey had bronchitis. Townshend announced that the band will make up the show on March 25.

03.13.2007

R. Kelly is hooking up with Kanye West for his next album, the Chicago singer revealed in a bizarre six-minute phone message accessible by calling (312)278-3965 (that's a Chicago area code, by the way). Perhaps taking a tip from the Arcade Fire — who debuted a new song via a mysterious toll-free phone number earlier this year — the singer plays snippets from and spills more details about his next effort, which, according to the message, will be called Double Up. In the rambling message, Kelly also previews "Blow It Up" (featuring Young Jeezy and Young Dro), "Rock Star" (featuring Ludacris), "Freakin' in the Clubs" and "Hook It Up" (featuring Kanye West). ...

Lindsay Lohan's estranged father, who she sung openly about in her single "Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)," was released from a New York prison Tuesday (March 13), CBS reports. Michael Lohan was incarcerated in June 2005 after surviving a car crash for which he was charged with driving under the influence. ...

Carrie Underwood is returning to live TV later this month as the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live." Underwood will perform on the March 24 episode, hosted by Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning, while Snow Patrol will play on Saturday's show, hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. ...

Exit stage left for LL Cool J? The longtime Def Jam rapper appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Monday night and confirmed his upcoming 50 Cent-helmed project, Exit 13, will be his last for the storied hip-hop label. "It's my last record on Def Jam, it's my 13th album, and I'm leaving," he told Kimmel. "My contract is up and it's time to move on." Previously the rapper hinted at his desire to defect due to Jay-Z's conflict of being both a Def Jam artist and the label's president, saying, "How am I gonna re-sign with the competition?" When pressed by Kimmel if his departure was indeed due to differences with Jay-Z, LL responded: "I wouldn't go that far with it," he said. "But for the most part ... I'm gone."

Avril Lavigne is on the cover of the April issue of Seventeen — and comes clean inside about her past photo-shoot problems. "The record company let me do whatever I wanted," Lavigne said of her style choices, "which was unheard of. But I had to fight with people at every single photo shoot 'cause they wanted to put me in pink and lace and frills." The singer, who said she simply wanted to wear her own clothes in photo shoots, explained that she wasn't trying to be difficult. "I was just me being me. I guess my whole career has been about me fighting, like, 'I'm not gonna do that. I think it's cheesy.' " Avril told MTV Europe that her personal look hasn't been shelved, it's just evolved. "I still have my style," she told MTV Europe, "it's just not as maybe tomboy as before. ... I wear the same style but maybe a little sexier, so a little more rock and roll glam or whatever." ...

Diana Ross will work with the final 12 contestants on "American Idol" on Tuesday (March 13) for a performance episode spotlighting music from Ross and the Supremes. Ross will perform on Wednesday night's results show. ... Nelly Furtado has picked "All Good Things (Come to an End)," which she co-wrote with Coldplay's Chris Martin, as the fourth U.S. single from Loose. ... Nine Inch Nails were forced to cancel a concert in England this week after frontman Trent Reznor lost his voice. The band was supposed to perform in Birmingham on Monday night but pulled out of the show when Reznor's voice failed to recover in time for him to perform. The gig has been postponed to August 30. ...

The U.S. is loving "300" — the #1 film that plundered the box office for $70 million last weekend — but Iran feels a bit different about the film. Iranian newspapers and government officials say the movie portrays their ancestors as "savages," and the reformist paper Ayandeh-No recently ran the headline "Hollywood declares war on Iranians," according to Agence France Presse. A cultural adviser to Iran's president called the movie, which is unlikely to be released in the country, "American psychological warfare against Iran." ...

John Lennon tracks will be reinterpreted by various artists for Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur, due June 12. Proceeds from the sales of the LP will help support Amnesty International's campaign to focus attention and mobilize activism around the crisis in the Sudan, as well as other human-rights concerns. The set will feature U2's cover of "Instant Karma," Green Day's take on "Working Class Hero," Christina Aguilera's spin on "Mother," R.E.M.'s rendition of "#9 Dream," the Cure tackling "Love," Snow Patrol doing "Isolation" as well as "Power to the People" performed by the Black Eyed Peas. ... Cyndi Lauper, the Dresden Dolls, the Gossip, Erasure and Debbie Harry will anchor the True Colors Tour, which is being staged in support of the Human Rights Campaign. The 15-date trek, presented by LOGO and hosted by Margaret Cho, will christen Gay & Lesbian Pride Month when it begins June 8 in Las Vegas. Rufus Wainwright, Indigo Girls and Rosie O'Donnell and others will also be featured on select stops of the tour. ...

Sylvester Stallone was charged Tuesday with importing a banned substance after allegedly attempting to bring human growth hormone into Australia last month, The Associated Press reports. The actor, who described the incident as a "misunderstanding," was detained for several hours on February 16 at Sydney Airport, where authorities confiscated items from his bags. The actor was not required to appear in a Sydney court on Tuesday. The case was adjourned until April 24, at which time the actor's lawyers are expected to enter a plea on his behalf. ... Matchbook Romance have announced that they will be going on an "indefinite hiatus," one year after the release of their last album, Voices. "This is our chance to leave on a good note and forge ahead in the world to see what else is out there," the band said in a statement. "We hope you guys will understand, and we hope you will look forward to the next time you hear from us."